


"thats the easy part!"

by RelentlessEndurance



Series: Fictober 2020 [2]
Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls Online
Genre: F/F, Fictober 2020, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:22:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26785099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RelentlessEndurance/pseuds/RelentlessEndurance
Summary: Day 2 Prompt for Fictober 2020 - "thats the easy part!"
Relationships: Female Altmer OC/Female Half-Elf OC
Series: Fictober 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1949047





	"thats the easy part!"

"Again!" The half-elf shouted cheerfully.

Lirreah was standing at the far end of the little sparring pit, slightly bent over with her hands on her knees, catching her breath. An intense sparring session was not how she expected to spend one of the few stolen days she had with Zoyana, but here they were, in a sandy sparring ring they had made on the beach, on their fourth? Fifth? match.

"You aren't tired?" Lirreah said with a breathy laugh, stooping to pick up the wooden staff she had been sparring with.

Zoyana would snicker, twirling her own staff with a flourish. "No! Are you?"

"Perhaps a little." The altmer said softly, straightening to her full height. "But I think I have one more in me." She would smile.

That was all Zoyana needed, falling on her immediately. Lirreah was taken a little off guard, but recovered quickly enough - and off they would go.

It started, at least, how their spars - including the last few ones - had normally did. They would go back and forth, neither one gaining advantage over the other, pushing each other to a limit, before one of them relented.

In today's case, though, it went a little more in Zoyana's favor, her skill with a two-handed scythe making wielding a practice staff look like nothing. Lirreah was not too shabby with one, either, but her true strength was a sword and shield. And she was evidently more tired than her partner was, so it would not take long for the much smaller half-elf to gain the upper hand. Which was not a big deal, really, it was just a spar after all.

But then, suddenly, and most certainly without meaning to, Zoyana struck her on the side - with a lot more force than Lirreah was expecting from a playful spar.  
-

_She had spent the day in the hot Summerset sun, training with one of - if not the harshest instructor on the isles - a Thalmor veteran that likely had never smiled in his life. Her aunt was overseeing the training, the reason that he was even here at all. Nothing less than the highest standard for a Silverbreeze. Even if that was coming at the cost of her physical well being._

_She had lost count of how many spars she failed to win, and how many times she had to pick herself up off the ground. Thirsty and tired, with pain singing through her every nerve - she was sent to the ground again; the blow to her side cracking her ribs audibly. Suddenly, it was very hard to breathe, the pain blotting out every other sense as she dropped to the ground; from which she did not get back up immediately._

_"Pathetic." The instructor said, a scowl on his cruel features. "Get up. Try again."_

_She didn't move - simply trying to ride out the pain before she had to face him again._

_"Get up, girl." Her aunt will call sharply, in her raspy, harsh voice._

_She still did not move._

_"Brat. I told you to get up - " He would stride over, to yank her up by her arm._

-

"I don't want to get up!" Lirreah called out, curled up on her side, on the warm sand of the beach.

The beach-

"Reah!" There was a concerned and familiar cry. It was - it was Zoyana. Before Lirreah could even attempt to get up, the half elf was kneeling down beside her.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hit you that hard - we can stop now if you want-" Her tone was concerned, and she had a worried look on her face. 

Lirreah looked up at her, blinking through tears, trying to form a coherent thought. "I'm - sorry, sorry. Just. Old scars, and-"

Zoyana didn't respond right away. sitting crisscross and slipping an arm underneath Lirreah. Gently, she'd prop her up in her lap, bringing her arms gently around her. Resting her chin on Lirreah's shoulder, she'd say softly. "Hey, hey, its okay."

Lirreah embraced her in turn, wincing a little as the movement exacerbated the pain in her side. But she would settle, melting in Zoyana's grip. "No, not it isn't. But thats not your fault."

"Your aunt, huh?" The smaller half elf said, barely above a whisper. 

"Yeah... Yeah." Lirreah said, her voice similarly soft. She'd turn her head gently to bury her face in Zoyana's jet-black locks, breathing in gently. She smelled of corn flower, likely from the soaps she used to wash her hair. A familiar and comforting scent that, combined with the feeling of Zoyana's arms around her, chased away the lingering panic in her chest. "Always her. I'm sorry, love."

Zoey would pat her back, rubbing gently, and sigh softly. "Why are you sorry, Reah? It isn't your fault, you know."

"I know. But I'm still. Like this. It has to be difficult." She'd suck in a deep breath.

"What, whats difficult?" She'd ask gently. 

"Being with me. Loving me. Knowing me." Lirreah's voice was thick, like she was about to cry. 

Zoyana was quiet for a while, just rubbing her back slowly, as though she was thinking on what she wanted to say next. "Nah. All that? Thats the easy part. You wanna know whats really tough?" She'd pull away from her, to look up at her with a soft expression.

Lirreah would wipe her eyes, and loft a brow. "What is?" 

"Not marching down to the manor and killing your aunt with my bare hands." 

The only thing Lirreah could do, in that moment, was laugh. She'd pull Zoyana in for another embrace, and stay like that.

"I could not agree more."


End file.
